


Bite Marks

by Lightning and Sunshine (thunderandlightning)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Vampire Allison Argent, Vampire Stiles Stilinski, Vampire Theo Raeken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 05:43:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12810882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderandlightning/pseuds/Lightning%20and%20Sunshine
Summary: The standard soulmate mark story, but with a slight twist.





	Bite Marks

Stiles walked in through the vampire entrance of the high school building. The covered parking lot had a walkway that shielded students and teachers from the sun, although they weren’t going to immolate unless they spent too long outside without sunscreen, and they would be deeply sunburned long before that ever happened. He stopped at his locker, switching last night’s textbooks out for ones he would need for his first few classes. He wasn’t even sure he would need them, but sometimes these Friday morning assemblies were short. 

Mason approached the senior, a nervous smile on his face. “Hey, is it all right if I sit by you guys today? Liam’s being especially angry and I’m kind of afraid he’s going to literally bite my head off.” 

“What makes you so sure I won’t do that to you?” Stiles pointed out, smiling widely to show his teeth. “You’re best friends with a werewolf, you know how I feel about them. I’ve never kept it a secret.” 

“But I’m human.” Mason protested, his smile fading. “Never mind, then. Sorry I bothered you.” He trudged away, looking for Hayden. She didn’t like Liam, so Mason figured he had a better chance of getting her approval. 

Stiles closed his locker door and looked around as he leaned back against it, his hands tucked in his pockets. Their town was too small for anyone to think that separate high schools would be a better idea, so human teenagers were stuck taking the same classes as vampire and werewolf teenagers. None of the groups were pleased about it. 

Allison approached him, looking over her shoulder briefly at Theo. “Hey.” She greeted Stiles. “You look like you’re getting ready for an epic pout. What happened, one of the dogs offend your olfactory senses?”

Stiles smirked at Allison. “No, a leash-carrier’s mad at his puppy and wanted to come hang out with us this morning.” 

“Did you tell him there’s a blood tax?” Theo laughed, opening his own locker. 

“No, I just told him to fuck off or I’d bite him.” Stiles shrugged. “I hate these things. Every Friday, we have to go see if our name comes up in that lottery and if there’s a match between our new mark and somebody else’s. They never even try to call me because my real first name is too hard to pronounce. I’ve watched them look at the paper, look at me, and drop the fucking thing back into the bucket like it never happened.” 

Allison snorted. “Tools.” She muttered, scratching her fingers lightly over Stiles’ back. “You almost sound like you’d like for your name to crop up, like someone would be able to say it.” She narrowed her eyes at him teasingly. “What’s that all about?”

“People can’t cast a spell on you if they can’t say your name.” Stiles remarked. “My mom was really particular about keeping me safe from that.” 

“Yeah, well, my name isn’t common, either. It’s why I go by Theo.” Theo nodded. “But it’s not out of paranoia.” He smiled over at Allison, then grabbed Stiles’ arm. “Come on. Unmarked seniors are always top priority. I’m hoping they call me. I actually want to get to know my soulmate.” 

“You’re fucked up.” Stiles shook his head, smiling as he let the other vampire lead him toward the gym. “One too many Disney movies as a kid.” He walked up the bleacher steps, sitting on the back row and sprawling out a little. He scanned the crowd for Corey, Betty and Erica. There were other vampires in their school, but nobody he wanted to associate with. 

Allison followed behind, looking around. She didn’t want to tell Stiles, but she felt just about the same way as Theo - if she was going to be saddled with a mate, she’d rather know who the hell they were and what they were like.

Scott nudged Isaac sharply. “Head’s up.” He muttered. “The wannabe Walkers are here.”

“Is that what we’re calling them this week?” Isaac teased. He glanced toward the vampires, then looked back at Scott. “You realize that it’s their school, too. I understand that you hate them, but my brother got turned when he was fifteen. My dad was proud of him for it. He really didn’t like that I was more interested in becoming a werewolf.” 

“I’m not going to take stock in anything your dad says or believes. He’s got his head screwed on weird.” Scott sighed. “I don’t care about them sharing the school with us, dude. I just don’t want them near me.”

“That’s why we’re sitting over here.” Isaac put his arm around Scott’s shoulders. “And we have a lot of humans separating us from them.” 

Stiles turned his head, lifting his chin defiantly as he stared at Scott and Isaac. Without raising his voice, he spoke, smirking. “I can hear you assholes talking about us. We can all hear you.” 

“Good for you.” Scott smirked back at him. “Maybe I meant for you to hear me, Fangs.”

Stiles shook his head, scratching his nose with his middle finger before he turned toward Allison and Theo. “I can’t stand him. I can’t believe we were ever friends.” 

“It was kindergarten.” Theo laughed. “Everyone was friends back then.” 

Allison looked amused. “Even when the only thing you had in common was a sandbox.” She teased Stiles, leaning against Theo’s shoulder. “Just ignore him. You know he’s only doing it to see if he can rattle you.”

“Yeah, probably.” Stiles leaned against Theo’s other shoulder. “They’ll probably deliberately pick ten humans today and the rest of us are just going to sit here and pretend we’re invisible.” 

Corey sat down on Stiles’ other side. “Or you could be hopeful and think that for once, they’ve decided to just address you by your nickname, like they do in class. I heard them talking about it in the office when I dropped off my request form for next year’s electives. They’re picking you today.” 

Stiles’ eyes widened. “Fuck me.” He muttered, sitting up straight. He peered down at the clear plastic fish bowls full of slips of paper. “I really thought this was random.” 

“For everyone else, it is.” Corey smiled. “But what they decided they’re doing is, whatever name they draw, they don’t care what it says. They’re calling yours.” He laughed at Stiles’ horrified expression. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to be that bad. Everyone else likes their soulmate. That’s kind of the point. You’re meant to be with the person that you end up with.” 

“You’re forgetting a few things.” Stiles said easily. “One, I like Lydia Martin. I’ve never even looked at anyone else. If she’s not my soulmate - and let’s face it, she’s probably not - I’m going to be even more insufferable than usual. As long as there’s hope, I’m tolerable.” He smirked. “Two, my parents were soulmates. She died giving birth to me. Almost every female vampire dies giving birth. I don’t want to subject someone to that. Definitely not Lydia, even if I could be that lucky.” 

Allison hummed and reached across Theo, stroking a hand once down Stiles’ back. What he said was true - and the main reason that she prayed that her soulmate was a female, who wouldn’t mind adoption. If she had to end up with someone, the last thing she wanted to do was get pregnant and end up leaving them, the way her mother had. “Maybe you’ll get lucky, love.” She murmured, and then giggled. “Maybe you’ll end up with Jackson.”

Erica dropped down on Stiles’ other side and draped herself over him, smirking. “Wishful thinking?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Stiles laughed. “I hate both of you.” He said dryly, but looked down at Erica. “Corey says that they’re deliberately calling my name today. Probably trying to make an example of me because I’m such a problem student.” He smiled. 

“That’s the best kind of student to be, though.” Erica protested, looking over at Corey. “Problem students make things interesting!”

Corey smiled at Erica. “I don’t think interesting is the right word.” 

“Oh, it is, believe me. It is.” Erica stared back at him, eyes wide as she nodded rapidly. “Trust me.”

Stiles sat up straight, nudging Erica off of him, as the faculty members walked into the gym. He hoped that Corey was messing with him, but he knew better. The younger teen liked to make jokes sometimes, but not of this magnitude. 

Erica shifted off of him, sitting up in her seat and staring toward the front, exhaling. Regardless of what Corey had said, she was still a little nervous about whose name would actually be called. 

“Although it’s traditional to call students by the names on their birth certificates...” The principal began, “we’re going to ignore that rule as needed, and we’re not even going to bother drawing names. I realize this isn’t how we tend to do things, but this is the first Friday of the school year and we’ve gone on long enough for some of these seniors, so we’re just calling them to the front and giving them opportunity to meet their soulmate.” He withdrew a notecard from his suit jacket pocket, clearing his throat before he read off the listed names. “Erica Reyes. Isaac Lahey. Scott McCall. Theo Raeken. Allison Argent. Lydia Martin. Stiles Stilinski. Betty Cooper. Cora Hale. Jackson Whittemore. Veronica Lodge. Jughead Jones.”

Allison blinked, and then went a little pale - paler than normal. She looked at Stiles in a panic. “What the - what the hell.”

Erica rounded on Corey. “You said it was just gonna be Stiles!” She hissed at him.

Scott looked at Isaac warily, and then over his shoulder toward the vampires, frowning. He spotted Cora a little further down the row from him, looking utterly bewildered, before he slowly got up, scratching at the back of his neck. He patted Isaac’s shoulder. “Come on.” He muttered. “Let’s get this over with.”

Betty looked over at the other vampires in her clan, frowning, before she made her way toward the podium with a sigh.

Jackson peered toward Lydia, raising his eyebrows a little in confusion before he shrugged and stood up.

Lydia followed the group of seniors down to the gym floor, feeling wary. She didn’t know that she cared who her soulmate was. She had a very specific plan for herself that had nothing to do with what her soulmate may or may not want, and finding them now would only complicate her life. She found herself hopeful that the mark that would appear on the inside of her wrist would have no recorded match anywhere, that she could cover it with makeup or bracelets and forget it existed. 

Erica had folded her arms across her chest, scowling at the teachers and restraining herself from baring her teeth at them. She hated being up here, and she hated that she’d been picked, even if it had been as a part of a large group, because she hadn’t been anticipating it.

“It just means that they’re trying to work their way through the seniors.” Stiles muttered to Erica, his hands on her shoulders as he stood behind her. “Okay? I’m right here. They won’t hurt you, you know? The mark is revealed and it’s painless and then we’re on display all day while people ask us who our soulmates are, if they didn’t see already.” 

Erica turned her head back to stare up at him, worrying her lower lip with a fang in frustration. “This whole thing is stupid, though.” She muttered. “For fuck’s sake, why the hell are we up here with the wolves? The humans I could understand, but not the damn wolves.”

“I don’t think it’s that we’re up here with them, so much as we’re just up here and they are, too.” Theo remarked, snorting at Stiles’ dark look. “You need to stop being so judgmental.” 

“And they need a flea bath.” Stiles shrugged. He pushed his right sleeve up to his elbow, turning his arm over so that it was palm-up as he rested it on the table, kneeling down and looking up at their teachers. “Let’s get this over with.” 

Allison looked nervous as she followed suit, laying her arm on the table as she knelt down next to Stiles. She looked up at Theo expectantly.

Theo smiled at Allison, displaying his fangs as he tugged Erica down beside him, taking the same position that Allison and Stiles had taken. “We’ll do this and maybe good things will happen, you bunch of pessimists.” 

Scott couldn’t stop himself from glowering at the vampires, at Stiles specifically, after hearing the guy’s words. A low growl unintentionally rumbled out of his throat, and he huffed, kneeling down next to Cora, who was looking impatient beside him. “Cool it.” He muttered to her. “You look like you’re about to unleash your claws on the teachers and everyone else in the gym.”

“You’re not my Alpha.” Cora snapped. “Don’t tell me what to do. And I am tempted to.”

Isaac knelt on Cora’s other side. “Wait until the end of the day, at least.” He teased. “Less chance of you getting caught.” 

Lydia was silent, listening to the bickering around her as she knelt down, her forearm resting on the table. She watched as the others did the same, until they were all in position. Once they were, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hoping that she would be a rare case with no mark. It wasn’t entirely unheard of. 

Stiles eyed the principal as the man picked up a pitcher of blessed water and poured it into the recessed part of the table, where it flowed over the wrists of the senior students. He kept his gaze averted from his wrist. He didn’t want or need to know what sort of mark would appear. 

Allison shook a little, her free hand shooting toward Theo’s, under the cover of the table. She kept her eyes up, looking toward the ceiling. She didn’t know what she was more scared of - the mark she would end up with, the frankly unlucky person that would match it, or worse - that someone wouldn’t match it at all.

Stiles didn’t look at his arm until the water was being drained through a hole in the center of the ritual table, and his gaze traveled from one wrist to another, his tongue curving around the point of one fang. He felt anxious, but even more so when his gaze fell on the identical mark to his own, on the wrist on the other side of the table. He lifted his head, making eye contact with Scott McCall. His jaw clenched. “Nope.” 

Scott looked furious. “Bullshit.” He blurted loudly, his eyes glowing. He shook his head rapidly. “Hell no. No.”

Lydia looked from one oddly-shaped star with a bullseye in the center to the other, adorning the wrists of Scott and Stiles. Her own mark, a raven with the stem of a purple flower in its beak, was quickly covered up by her left hand. 

Allison’s mouth fell open as she stared at Stiles and Scott. She quickly turned her own wrist over, refusing to look at her own mark. If her best friend could end up the soulmate of someone he hated, she didn’t want to even imagine who she could end up with. As soon as she could, she resolved to wrap a black band around her wrist and never think on it again.

“Is this a joke?” Scott blurted, staring at the teachers. “Are you high right now?”

“You’re out of line, Mr. McCall.” Mr. Harris shook his head in disapproval. “We’ll need to document the marks on all of your wrists. If your soulmate isn’t in this group -” He gave Scott and Stiles a warning look, letting them know that he was aware of what had happened. “Then it’s possible that they’re in a database online and that information will be given to you as soon as it’s located.” 

“What a complete waste of time.” Stiles muttered. He got to his feet, drying his arm off on his shirt. He looked down at it, disappointed that the mark hadn’t wiped off, even though he knew that wasn’t going to happen. “Just this once, your blessed water was cursed. I’m not spending any time with...” He gestured toward Scott. “That.” 

Scott’s nostrils flared. “And I’m not spending time with a leech.” He snapped back. “I’m not spending any time with _anything_ that drains blood from living creatures.”

Stiles smirked and turned away, walking back toward the bleachers. He caught the backpack that Corey threw down to him on his way out of the gym. 

“What did you get?” Theo asked Erica, ignoring the display of anger that everyone had just witnessed. 

Erica looked back at him and made a face, shrugging and lifting her wrist. “Scratch marks. I literally have scratch marks, I don’t even know. What about you?” She peered around him at Allison. “Did you catch a glimpse of Ally’s?”

“I haven’t seen hers, no.” Theo smiled. “Mine is a black cat. Like a Halloween thing. Which makes sense, because that’s my birthday.” 

Erica grinned at him, bumping against his shoulder with her own. “You’re damn adorable and someone will be lucky as hell if they match your cat.”

“Want to go find our mopey bitch of a friend and remind him that this doesn’t have to mean anything?” Theo stood up. 

“Yeah, let’s go.” Erica sighed. “That’s weird as hell, though, right?” She asked quietly. “A vampire and werewolf, matching?”

“Yeah, I’ve never heard of it.” Theo shook his head, snorting. “It just figures that Stiles would have to be that one rare person.” He held his arm out to Erica, motioning for Corey to follow them out of the gym. There was no real reason to hang around, the whole room had become chaos as soon as people realized that a vampire and a werewolf were soulmates. 

Erica tucked herself against Theo’s side, shaking her head. She looked back over her shoulder toward the pandemonium and snorted. “I guess I should be glad that I didn’t match with anyone at the table. I don’t think, anyway. No one said anything to me, and I am… actually pretty okay with that.”

“Me too.” Theo smiled, walking out into the hallway. He could hear Stiles further down the hall, muttering to himself. “I don’t know. I kind of wanted to meet someone. But I guess it can wait. I’ll meet them when I’m ready.” 

Erica laughed quietly. “Yeah. It’ll be worth it, whenever it happens.” She studied Stiles worriedly. “But I’m not going to lie - I’m a little scared about what’s going to happen with him and the wolf.” She frowned, looking up at Theo. “What happens if you reject your mate?”

“I don’t know. Again, I’ve never heard of someone doing that.” Theo shook his head, giving Stiles a concerned look. 

Stiles stopped pacing in front of his locker and walked toward his friends. “I don’t think being here today is a good idea. I think I need to go.” 

“Why?” Theo frowned. “If you leave, they’re all going to start saying shit about you being scared or something. You’re not, right?” 

“Hell no, I’m not.” Stiles muttered. “I just don’t want to deal with him. I don’t want to be forced to sit by him in class. I don’t want in-school counseling sessions to see how we’re doing as a couple.” 

“Then tell the teachers that.” Erica told him. “Tell them that just because the mark says so, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen in a day, and if they try to push you together… tell them to back the hell off.”

“Okay.” Stiles nodded. “I’ll go tell them it’s a mistake, I can’t...” He shrugged, then turned and walked away, toward the office. 

“Well, no, I didn’t -“ Erica trailed off, making a face. “Mean that. Dammit.”

“It’s not your fault that he misunderstood.” Theo murmured. “Let’s just go to first period, all right? We’re not saving him a seat, either. I know it’s unorthodox that he’s mated to a werewolf, but I don’t think it necessarily has to be a bad thing. I trust in soulmates.” 

“Okay.” Erica murmured, winding her arms around his waist. “I don’t know if I do.” She admitted after a moment. “I want to. I just don’t know if I believe that there’s one whole person in the world that belongs with me.”

Theo laughed softly. “Well, we’ll have to make sure our marks are registered sometime today. You might be surprised.” 

“Mm. Maybe.” Erica smiled up at him. “You’re a vampire, you’re not supposed to be so ridiculously optimistic.”

“I don’t believe in stereotypes.” Theo grinned. “Somebody out there is genetically predispositioned to love me and nobody else. That’s kind of hot.” 

Erica grinned at him. “I didn’t say it wasn’t an attractive quality. I guess I just… I don’t know. Wish I believed in it more?”

“You will.” Theo nodded. “One day.” He walked into the Science classroom and sat down in the middle of one row, stretching his legs out in front of him. He glanced toward the door when he heard Stiles’ familiar snapping tone, just before he appeared in the doorway. 

Stiles was shoved toward a seat in the back corner of the room, furthest from the door, by the school’s security guard. He glared up at the man, his eyes going black. “Get out. I’m sitting down, you did your job. Just go.” He pointedly ignored Scott, who was being manhandled into the seat beside his. 

Scott snarled at the guard, and grunted as he was finally shoved down into the desk. “I swear to god I’ll find a way to make you regret this!” He called after the man, before grumbling and folding his arms over his chest and staring straight ahead, pursing his lips together. 

Theo turned in his seat, speaking gently to Scott and hoping that Stiles wouldn't be furious with him for it. “What happened?” 

“Why the hell are you asking him?” Stiles snapped. His eyes were still black. 

“Because you’re in no state to answer.” Theo licked his lips. Even with Theo suffering the same effect when he was furious, he found it unsettling to see Stiles that way. “And I’d like to get to know my friend’s soulmate.”

“Don’t.” Stiles muttered. “This is a cosmic nightmare.”

“Only if you let it be.” Erica told him. “You have to spend time together, right? That doesn’t mean you have to treat him like gold. He’s a werewolf. If he happens to…” she smirked a little. “You know. Trip. Break something. Maybe his shin… by accident, of course. He’ll still heal.”

“That would mean getting close enough to do those things.” Stiles shook his head. “I’ll pass.” 

Erica sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Fine, I made my suggestion.”

Scott stared warily at them, and then grimaced, turning toward the front of the room and deliberately ignoring Theo’s question.

Stiles rolled his eyes and looked at Theo, the black fading back to white and brown. “I went into the office to tell them that it was a mistake, and that I wasn’t going to honor it. That there was no way this would ever work, and I wanted my mark removed. I know it’s painful as hell, but I think it would be worth it. And instead of listening, they decided to drag us both here and make us sit together.” 

“Christ.” Erica muttered. “So… you’re stuck with it. Both of you.”

“No.” Stiles shook his head. “Because as soon as I get out of here for the day, I’m asking my dad for alternative solutions. I’ll drop out or I’ll go somewhere else. I don’t care.” 

“I don’t want you to leave.” Erica complained. She scowled and aimed a kick at the back of Scott’s chair. “Why can’t you leave?”

Scott whipped around and growled at her. “I have just as much right to be here as any of you. Beacon Hills doesn’t belong to you.” He snapped. 

Stiles snorted. “It doesn’t belong to any of us. Technically, if we all stayed where the fuck we came from, none of us would even be on this continent. Find a new argument.” 

Scott bared his fangs with a smirk. “Bite me. There’s your new argument.” He was well aware that as “arguments” went, that one was immature as hell, but he didn’t care. It was taking everything in him not to go full-on five-year-old and stick out his tongue.

“I would, but I don’t want to explain the mouthful of fleas to my dentist.” Stiles smiled widely.

Scott snorted. “Go suck a cock, then. Might be a nice change from blood for once.”

“Is that a request that I suck yours?” Stiles scoffed. “Because if so, that’s a no. But I’m not opposed to someone else’s.” 

Scott’s eyes gleamed. “I never said mine. I said ‘a’ cock. And go for it, Living Dead.”

“Hydrant-humper.” Stiles countered, going quiet when he heard the teacher approaching the classroom. 

Scott clenched his teeth together. He heard the teacher approaching, too, and it infuriated him that Stiles had basically gotten the last word - Scott had no respect for Mr. Harris, but he would never say anything to get himself in trouble in another teacher’s classroom. Outside of the classroom was another matter entirely.

Theo glanced at Erica. “This is going to be a long year.” 

“No, it’s not.” Stiles muttered. “Told you. I’m out. Not interested in pursuing this.” 

Erica raised her eyebrows, and then scrawled a message on a corner of her notebook, sliding it toward Theo. ‘Starting to think that the vamp doth protest too much.’

‘Yeah, he does.’ Theo wrote back. ‘Any idea why?’

Erica made a face and shrugged, writing back. ‘No damn clue. Maybe Allison would know? But if I don’t know, and you don’t know, she probably doesn’t either.’ She paused, and then continued writing. ‘Maybe his dad would.’

Theo nodded, deciding to go talk to John. There was no real reason for their friend, who only ever talked about wanting someone to notice him, to be so against finding his soulmate so easily. 

*****

After school, Stiles felt an overwhelming sense of relief that he could go home and be away from everyone and their stupid opinions about his luck. He glanced at Lydia as he passed her, on his way to the the vampire lot. He had been wavering, since high school started, about whether or not she would ever look at him instead of through him. In books, vampires had it easy and got just about whatever they wanted. The reality was, at least for Stiles, that he wouldn’t be noticed if his heart was beating or not. Not by Lydia, anyway. He knew that for certain because he had one day, every year, when his heart did beat. And she still hadn’t bothered talking to him. So he knew, objectively, that she would never want him. And he had accepted it and moved on, but there was still the hope that the universe would take pity on him for two seconds. Instead, his soulmate was a werewolf, and not just any werewolf. Scott McCall, who radiated sunshine most of the time, and everybody knew that was bad for people with Stiles’ solar allergy. He didn’t want to deal with an entire school year of knowing that he wasn’t good enough for someone like Scott. He wasn’t so sure he was good enough for anyone.  
Stiles drove himself home, parking in the driveway and going straight to the spare room. It had once been filled with his mother’s arts and crafts projects, her books, her rocking chair. And whatever else she liked to keep that Stiles had never heard about. He hadn’t ever known his mom, she died so he could live. Now it was home to glass cages full of snakes. Stiles lifted a cage full of squeaking mice and began feeding his reptiles. The recommendation was that the snakes be fed frozen mice, since live ones could damage his snakes. Stiles felt like that was just the nature of things, and he wasn’t going to cheat the snakes out of the same sort of life he lived on a daily basis. As soon as all of the cages had live mice dropped into them, he set the mouse cage back down and sat to watch the snakes. “I had a bad day.” He muttered, his lips quirking when Monty turned his head to make eye contact. “How was yours?” He stood again, lifting the lid on the python’s cage and letting the snake slither up his arm. “I don’t know why so many people think you guys aren’t cuddly. My soulmate’s a werewolf. Isn’t that bullshit? He hates me, and he’s probably right to. Whatever. If I leave, you’re all coming with me.” 

“Already making plans to flee, are you?” John asked, watching his son thoughtfully from the doorway. He’d known the instant Stiles had been given his mark at school, had all but suffered his son’s own emotions right alongside him. “I’d have thought you’d personally stick around just to spite the McCall kid.”

“I don’t know.” Stiles looked up at his dad. “I know running doesn’t help, but staying isn’t going to change anything, either. He doesn’t know me, he doesn’t want to know me. And you know. That’s fine, I guess? I mean, what can I even do about it? I don’t want to be soulmate to a werewolf, anyway. I actually thought that they were just going to give up on even trying to pronounce my name and I’d never get my soulmate. Not this year, at least.” 

John stepped into the room and set his hand down on Stiles’ shoulder, the fingers of his other hand lightly stroking Monty’s chin as he studied his son. “Do you want him to know you? To decide he dislikes you because of your differing views instead of because of what you are?” He asked curiously. “By all means, I don’t want you mated to a ‘wolf anymore than you want to be, but if it had been me, I’d rather be hated for being who I am, instead of the fact that I have fangs and a sun allergy and an appetite for hemoglobin and plasma.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure Scott hates me for both. And I can’t claim innocence, anyway. I kind of told him to go fuck a fire hydrant. A few times.” Stiles admitted. “But he called me a leech and had a few other things to say to me, too. This isn’t going to work and I don’t like the idea of the school faculty forcing us to sit together all day. I couldn’t even enjoy the classes I didn’t have with him today, since I knew that I’d just end up having to sit with him later. Twelve of us got our marks today. They’re trying to get rid of any seniors without marks. They didn’t even get everyone, but that was more than half of us that were still free. And now we’re not. Theo’s gone into Disney prince territory, talking about how great it’ll be when he meets his soulmate. Allison agrees with me, but it’s obvious that she’s not fully sincere. I just don’t see the point. If it had been a girl, I’d be worried about her getting pregnant. Now that’s not an issue, but... werewolf?” 

John sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know, kiddo. I’m starting to wonder if they paired you two deliberately. For all I know, these idiots think it’s funny to pair you together, like they don’t know the differences between us and the animosity we have toward each other.” He squeezed Stiles’ shoulder again. “This Scott kid doesn’t sound too bright, honestly. I don’t think I’d want him as your mate even if he were human. Or a vampire.”

“Does that mean you’ll let me go live with Grandma and Grandpa in Minnesota for the rest of this school year?” Stiles looked hopeful. 

John raised an eyebrow at him, his lips twitching. “What do you think?”

“I think it was worth a try.” Stiles sighed. “Fine, I’ll go back to school on Monday and try not to get suspended or expelled.” 

“Attaboy.” John murmured, and brushed a kiss to the top of Stiles’ head. “You’re strong, Stiles. Don’t let this brat get to you. Don’t let the faculty get to you. You are who you are, and nothing and no one can change you. I know you would never let them, anyway.” His gaze hardened, his eyes darkening to pitch black. “And if you do have any trouble with those fleshbags, you let me know.”

Stiles nodded, smiling. “I will. You know I will.” He put Monty back into his cage, then started petting the other snakes, not wanting anyone to feel left out. Quill and Bal were his boa constrictors, and he’d had them since he was six, when the elementary schools had decided to segregate the classes and he wasn’t in the same room as Scott. He paused, the backs of his fingers stroking over Bal’s skin, as he thought that over. He shook his head at himself. It didn’t matter what might or might not have caused them to stop being friends, the werewolf legitimately hated him now, and Stiles didn’t want to be around werewolves any more than he absolutely had to. They just didn’t understand one another, as a whole. “I think I might go for a walk, if that’s all right?” 

“Of course.” John told him, nodding. “Dinner’s at six.” He added, and then grinned crookedly. “We’re having Italian tonight.”

“Blood with garlic butter isn’t Italian.” Stiles snorted. He stood up and hugged his dad. 

“It counts.” John insisted, hugging Stiles back tightly. He sighed, pressing his lips firmly to Stiles’ forehead. “I love you, kid.”

“I love you, too.” Stiles smiled softly and grabbed his hoodie on the way outside, yanking it on over his head and putting the hood on before he walked down the road. The sun wasn’t going to set for a few more hours, but he hated the way the glare of it made him look like he was blushing for days afterward. He stuck his hands in his pockets, wondering if he should bother walking by Lydia’s house. It was a lost cause now, but he briefly entertained the fantasy of her running out through her front door and asking him to run away with her. The idea made him laugh, and he shook his head at himself and walked in the opposite direction of the Martin house. He thought about calling his friends, but he didn’t want to hear one more word about how lucky he was and how he should embrace what he and Scott had. All they had was a mess. 

After several minutes, Betty fell into step beside him, looking over at him with a crooked smile. “Things still seem pretty dark and gloomy for you?” She asked him. She’d been on her way to visit, but once she’d realized that he wasn’t home, it hadn’t been difficult to track him down. She didn’t generally hang out with Stiles a lot - they ran in different circles, as few of them as there were, at school - but she’d figured that in all the craziness of the day’s events, she might want to lend him an ear on the off-chance that he’d want to talk. She carefully hid the mark on her wrist - a quill with a splotch of ink and a line scrawled behind it - from Stiles’ view. 

Stiles noticed the action, but not the mark. “I don’t think anyone is really happy after what happened today.” He shook his head. “The only real difference is that Scott and I were both right there. The rest of you don’t have to worry about it. At least, not for a little while longer. I asked my dad if I could go live with my grandparents. He said no.” 

“No offense, but good.” Betty told him. “There are a lot of people around that would seriously miss you if you left for a new clan, even if it’s your family’s clan.” She shook her head. “So what’s your plan? I know you’re not intending to roll over and go with the school administration’s arguably forcible bonding between you and the ‘wolf.”

“You’re right, I’m not.” Stiles agreed. “I guess I just have to wait it out. They can’t force us to be together forever, and if I have to sit by him in the classes we’re in together, then I’ll do it and be as quiet as I can about it. Which, you know, isn’t that easy. Not for me. When we’ve graduated, I’ll go wherever I want and he’ll go wherever he wants, and I’ll never have to see him again.” 

Betty nodded. “There you go. High school ‘romances’ don’t last, that can be your explanation or something. I know, I know, you aren’t really romancing each other. I just mean you can say it… sarcastically.”

“Well, I’m good at that.” Stiles laughed. “At least it’s Friday. I can relax until Monday morning, and then it’s just a matter of getting through the school day, again. I know that.” 

“You’ll manage.” Betty reassured him. “I don’t have any doubt about it.”

“What are you going to do about yours? They made you register, right?” Stiles murmured. “They’ll probably have your match figured out on Monday.” 

Betty smiled faintly and turned her wrist over to show him the mark. “I already did.” She murmured. She looked up at him. “Veronica Lodge.” Her voice was soft. “Human. She’s… kind of lovely.”

“I think you lucked out.” Stiles smiled. “She’s pretty and she seems nice.” 

“I think so, too.” Betty said softly, giving him a tiny smile. “Now if… I could talk to her without feeling like an utter idiot…”

“Start with ‘hi.’” Stiles teased. “At least you’re not at risk of her calling you a bunch of names or telling you to go suck a dick.” 

“Mm, yeah, I heard about that.” Betty raised her eyebrows. “Bet he’s pretty peeved about you calling him a… what was it?” She grinned teasingly. “A hydrant-humper?”

Stiles laughed, a little embarrassed. “Yeah, that wasn’t one of my better insults. But I’m not going to do that anymore. Not unless he starts it. I just want to get through school.” 

Bumping her shoulder against his, Betty nodded. “Sounds like a good plan. I agree. High school is rough enough as it is, it doesn’t need to be made more complicated.”

“It just... it doesn’t make sense?” Stiles blurted. “There’s no reason for me to be with him. Anyone else in the world would make more sense.” 

“But…” Betty looked hesitant. “No one else in the world seems to get more of a reaction out of you than he does.” She looked apologetic saying it. 

“It looks that way.” Stiles began. “Because we were both pissed off. I’ve reacted like that with other people, it’s just that it never escalates because people tend to ignore me when I’m telling them off. You’ll see on Monday. It’s going to be boring. Everyone is probably going to expect us to get in a fight or something.” 

“You don’t think you will?” Betty asked, her brows furrowing together.

“Well, I’m hoping not to. I told my dad that I would do my best not to get suspended or expelled.” Stiles laughed. “I might as well go home now, I think. I don’t really want to be around most of my friends, they’re acting like I’m in some kind of fairy tale and this isn’t. It’s a nightmare. I’m glad you’re happy, though.” 

“Thanks.” Betty smiled crookedly. “Hey, Stiles - it might be a nightmare, but… it could be a lot worse.” She looked up at him and shrugged. “I mean, your soulmate could be dead. Or a shtriga.”

Stiles shuddered. “Yeah, neither of those sound good. I guess if they were dead though, at least I’d know that, you know... we wouldn’t fight?” 

“Yeah.” Betty conceded. “That’s… true. And… from what I understand, probably extremely painful, too.”

*****

Stiles closed his locker and leaned his forehead against it for a moment, closing his eyes before he could convince himself to go to first period. He sat down beside Scott and opened his textbook. The weekend had been kind of bittersweet, since he knew that it would only end with him coming back to school today. 

Scott glanced over at him when Stiles sat down and furrowed his brow before looking away again and opening his own book. He buried his face in it, rubbing at his eyes in exhaustion. He wasn’t tired - the sheer amount of anger he’d felt over the weekend had just left him emotionally drained, and he couldn’t find it in himself to wage another verbal war with Stiles, regardless of how he may have felt about their possible mating.

Theo gave Stiles and Scott a confused look, but he shrugged his shoulders and opened his book to the lesson they were on, a few days earlier. From what he knew, Stiles hadn’t spoken to anyone since Friday. Maybe he and Scott had worked things out, but their facial expressions said otherwise. 

Lydia walked into the classroom, smiling. Her right wrist was covered by a wide leather cuff, and she wore a matching one on her left wrist. 

Stiles did a double take as he looked up at the redhead, and he took a deep breath and leaned forward, nudging her with his pencil eraser. He had nothing to lose now. Talking to her was easy. “Hey, you look happy. I mean, you usually look happy. But happier.” 

“Mm.” Lydia murmured, nodding. “I’m not bothering to find my soulmate. I’m sure I’ll receive some literature on him at some point, since I had to be entered into the database. But I don’t care about looking. I have a plan. If he’s going to fit into my life, he’ll have to be the one to make the adjustments. I’m not going to let myself worry over it. What about you, Stiles?” 

Stiles blinked. “I didn’t even think you knew my name.” He blurted. 

“Of course I do.” Lydia protested. “I know everyone.” 

“Right.” Stiles knew it was probably supposed to make him feel better, but it made him feel worse. If Lydia had no idea who he was, then she just didn’t see him. But she had known all along and just didn’t care. “Uh. I’m fine.” He muttered. “Just waiting for graduation. I don’t really care about this soulmate shit, either.” 

Scott stiffened in his chair, clenching his fist around his pen and scowling before he slowly unclenched his hand and relaxed. He didn’t care what Stiles thought. He didn’t care about anything Stiles had to say.

“Don’t act like you’re pissed at me for saying it.” Stiles whispered, glancing at Scott’s ruined pen. He sighed and got a spare out of his backpack and handed it over. “You hate this as much as I do. You made it clear, you don’t want to be stuck with a leech like me.” 

“I’m more pissed that I don’t get a choice.” Scott muttered and accepted the pen without thinking.

“I’m sorry?” Stiles smirked. “You wanted to be the one to tell everyone that this sucks and isn’t going to work out? Go ahead! Tell everybody. I don’t give a fuck.” 

Scott didn’t answer, his shoulders slumping a little as he hunched over his desk, turning his head away from Stiles. “Just leave me alone.” He muttered eventually, sighing.

“That was pretty much my plan.” Stiles admitted. “No more arguing from me. Not without cause.” He fell silent as Harris entered the room and did his best to pay attention, even though the teacher was boring and seemed to have a special hatred for Stiles, himself. 

Scott was silent for a bit as Harris entered and began. After a moment, he scrawled out words on his notebook and pushed it over to Stiles. ‘Your plans don’t seem to go according to plan very much, do they?’

Stiles stared down at the words, his mouth twisted in frustration. Scott wasn’t wrong, Stiles’ tentative plan had been to get Lydia’s attention and die happy. Instead of answering, he pushed the notebook back toward his soulmate, resting his chin on his hand as his eyes went black. 

Theo glanced back at Stiles, not taking his eyes off of his friend as he raised his hand. “Sir, excuse me, but I think I should get Stiles to the nurse.” 

“I’m fine.” Stiles seethed, his fangs dripping venom. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Keep teaching, Mr. Harris. I’m good.” 

Veronica glanced back at Stiles, her eyes widening. She nudged Betty. “Is that normal?” She asked quietly. “Should I get up and get somewhere safe?” 

Betty lightly put a hand over Veronica’s. “You _are_ safe.” She promised, her eyes on Stiles. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Okay.” Veronica nodded, taking a deep breath and trying to stay calm. 

“If anyone is going to take him to the nurse, it’s going to be his soulmate.” The science teacher smiled. 

“But I’m pretty sure that the reason he’s-” Theo frowned when he was interrupted. 

“Mr. Raeken, I’m the teacher here.” Harris sneered. “Scott, get Stilinski to the nurse.” 

“I said I’m fine!” Stiles snapped. 

“He said he’s fine.” Scott repeated, staring at Harris blankly. “I just thought I’d repeat it, since apparently, you can’t hear.”

“And now both of you can go to the office. Detention, Stilinski. Detention, McCall.” Harris smiled coldly. 

Stiles shoved his books into his backpack, ignoring the way the fabric ripped. He checked to make sure nothing fell out, but decided to carry it in one hand instead of putting it on his back as he walked to the front of the room to get the hall pass that the teacher had quickly written for him. Once he left the room, he stopped, his head tilted. He glanced over his shoulder at Scott, then walked over to his locker and put the backpack inside. “Fuck what he thinks. He’ll learn.” 

Scott snorted. “He’s a sad, petty, pathetic little man that probably didn’t leave his mom’s basement until he lost his virginity last year. He always thinks he’s right - guys like him never learn.” He didn’t look up at Stiles as he spoke, gravitating to his own locker and shoving his things inside.

“Well, I’m going to piss on his car.” Stiles said bluntly. “And then I’ll think about whether or not I need to go to the nurse.” He started walking toward the exit to the faculty lot. “Coming with me?” 

Scott hesitated, looking bewildered. His fingers brushed against his locker as he shut it, and then he was saying, “Yeah, coming,” without thinking about it. He caught himself stealing a glance at the other boy as he caught up to him.

Stiles’ eyes were black, but they were fading back to normal as he smirked. He glanced back at Scott as he pushed the door open. “I’m actually sort of hoping that he left a window open or left a door unlocked.” He grinned. “It’s still pretty warm out, plenty of time for that smell of piss to really bake into his seats.” 

“He’s vain enough that he doesn’t think he needs to lock his car.” Scott murmured as he stepped through the doorway. “He thinks students are too scared of him to do anything to it, so he leaves it unlocked like a fucking moron.” He lifted his eyes toward the faculty parking lot, nostrils flaring as he searched for Harris’ scent trail. He huffed and pointed out the sleek, expensive looking little red car sitting in the front of the lot. “There we go.”

“You’re not even going to try to stop me?” Stiles gave Scott a curious look. “Or are you going to wait until I’m mid-stream to rat me out?”

“You’ll rat yourself out.” Scott snorted. “Because Harris just gave the two of us detention, and he hates you more than he hates me so he’ll automatically point at us both. No, I’m not ratting you out. I’m keeping watch.” He paused. “And trying to find out where I can get a massive amount of sugar to dump in his gas tank.”

Stiles smiled to himself, shrugging. “I’ll bring some tomorrow.” He eyed the car, then sighed. “I can’t do it. It’s... way too petty.” 

Scott rolled his eyes. “He’s just going to complain to his insurance and get another one.” He pointed out. 

“You’re right. Okay.” Stiles opened the driver’s side door and unzipped his jeans, looking around cautiously before he emptied his bladder onto the teacher’s seat. “That’s probably the most satisfying that’s ever been.” He snorted. 

Scott tried not to grin broadly, shaking his head and keeping watch around them. “Probably the only thing that might be more satisfying is if he were tied up in front of it and completely incapable of doing a thing while you did it.”

“Whoa, I’m not into golden showers.” Stiles shook his head. “Just the idea of him being really, really inconvenienced... you know, it’s kind of a stereotype that werewolves are into marking their territory. Is that an actual thing?” 

Scott glared at him. “No, and that’s not what I freaking meant. You took what I said and veered off a freaking cliff with it.”

“That’s what I usually do.” Stiles zipped his jeans back up and made sure they were buttoned before he started walking back toward the building. It felt like they had been getting along, until he said something stupid and ruined it. “Story of my life.” He muttered. 

“Huh?” Scott looked over at him, confused. “What story? What about your life?” He paused. “Unlife.”

Stiles stared at Scott, unimpressed. “I guess it’s not just me.” He snorted, shaking his head and walking over to his locker. He got his backpack and walked toward the nurse’s office. He had been idiotic to think that he and Scott could ever really get along.

Scott looked frustrated, and without considering why he shouldn’t, he didn’t grab his own things before he went haring after the vampire. “What’s not just you?” He demanded. “I’m sick of arguing with you the second we see each other. I hate arguing. I hate treating people like shit, and I really hate being treated like shit, too. I’m - we’re… I don’t know what to think about you and me. About what happened. I just, I don’t want to duck through school all the time, avoiding people and shit. I just want to make it to graduation, and if having to get along with you is what I have to do to get the freaking administration to leave me the hell alone, then I’ll do it.”

“You can’t judge me for making stupid remarks based on stereotypes when you do it, too.” Stiles sighed. “I don’t like this, either. You’re not the first person, or even the tenth person, I would choose for a soulmate. If I got a choice. This has to be a mistake, that’s all I can figure.” He grimaced. Veronica and Betty seemed happy together, so maybe it wasn’t just an error that someone had made. “There’s no reason for you and I to even try, it’s just a waste of time. I already asked my dad if I could go stay with my grandparents. He said no, but I’m going to ask him again today.” 

Scott licked his lips, looking away. He wasn’t sure why, but the thought of Stiles actually trying to get out of town to get away from this made him uncomfortable - unhappy, even. At least, that was what he assumed the sour feeling in the pit of his stomach was. “Oh.” He muttered quietly. “Well… good. And, like… good luck. Maybe he’ll cave this time.”

“There are a lot of girls that want to date someone they don’t have to commit to.” Stiles added. “I’m sure you could find someone.” 

“Yeah, sure.” Scott snorted. “That’s why I’ve been swarmed by girls and guys for the last five years of my life.” He shook his head. “Maybe you’ll be luckier. In… wherever the hell your grandparents are from.” 

“Minnesota.” Stiles murmured. “Yeah, it’s going to be cold as hell out there this winter, but... I guess I’ll be okay.” He stopped outside the nurse’s office. “I don’t even know why I have to go in here. Theo shouldn’t have been drawing attention to me. But if I don’t, I probably really will get suspended.” 

Scott stopped with him and folded his arms over his chest. “Probably.” He murmured. Then a second later, he rubbed the back of his neck. “I could, uh… stay out here. If you want. I mean, not - I - it’s an offer. That’s all.”

“I don’t really need you to.” Stiles shook his head. “But I’m not mean enough to make you go back to Harris’ class. So yeah, hang out here, whatever. I can’t exactly stop you.” He snorted and went into the nurse’s office. 

Scott leaned against the wall with his back to it, and then slid down against it, leaning his head back as well. He sighed softly, rubbing a hand over his eyes tiredly. 

Stiles walked back out of the office a few minutes later, rubbing his arm. “Jesus christ, I hate this school.” He shook his head. “She gave me a shot of something and wouldn’t even tell me what it was, just that it’s supposed to make me...” He yawned. “Stop being pissed off. I said good luck, you know?” 

“I’m not pissed off.” Scott murmured. “I don’t - I don’t know what I am but it isn’t… that.”

“No, I meant that I am. Not about this. Well, not _just_ about this.” Stiles muttered. “Pretty much about everything.” 

“Yeah.” Scott mumbled. “Same. Feels like I always am, but now, lately…” he shook his head and wrapped an arm around his knee, propping his chin on top of it. 

“Since Friday?” Stiles guessed. He sat down on the floor, beside Scott. 

Scott looked over at him, blinking. “... Yeah, actually.” He nodded. “Since Friday.” He squinted at Stiles. “You too?”

“Yeah, I pretty much slept through the weekend, but that’s not entirely uncommon.” Stiles smiled, tempted to make a joke about the blood he had ingested, but he changed his mind at the last second and looked away. His friends would have thought it was funny; Scott probably would have been disgusted. 

Scott smiled a little, looking hesitant. “Yeah - uh, same here.” He murmured. “My… mom tells me that asleep is my natural state of being.”

Stiles licked his lips as he thought of things to say, but discarded them. “Are you tired now?” 

Scott looked back at him and cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah, actually. Pretty much… always.”

“Is that normal?” Stiles stood up, holding a hand out to Scott. 

Scott stared at Stiles’ hand, and then reached out to grab it, heaving himself up. “Usually. High metabolism, high emotions, high ingestion for food, high lib - uh, libido.” He blinked. “High crash rate when I get to sleep.” He squinted. “You’re not like that?”

“Not entirely, no.” Stiles shook his head. “Anger, yeah. But I don’t really do, um, being happy? Like I’m not built for it. I don’t think that’s a vampire thing, I think it’s just me. And I don’t need to eat too much. The only time of year when I’m... there’s like, one day when it’s different. The libido thing, though. I mean, I guess it’s high? It’s kind of hard to gauge when I don’t have any real basis for comparison. If you don’t ever, you know, empty the tank? It’s always full.” 

Scott snickered quietly. “Point. I just… uh, self-care, you know? Can’t really go too long without doing it.” He fidgeted a little, quieting down. “I’m… I think this is the first time I’ve really… ever talked to you.” He sounded a little stunned. 

“Well, that answers that question.” Stiles bit his lip. “Do you want to go get coffee? Class is over in about two minutes, but if anyone tries to start shit about us being late to second period, or even just missing it altogether? I’ll make them sorry they opened their mouths.” 

Scott chewed on his lower lip for a moment, but then nodded, slowly. “Yeah.” He said softly. “Yeah, that could… I wouldn’t mind that.” He paused. “The coffee and the making people sorry, I mean.”

“You don’t remember me, though?” Stiles started walking toward the nearest exit to the building. “From before?” 

“Before the bullshit?” Scott asked, looking over at him. “Yeah. I do.” He cleared his throat. “It was… easier to force myself to forget.”

“That’s great.” Stiles muttered. “Congratulations.” He put his sunglasses on and pulled his hood up over his head, eyeing the sky warily. “I can’t wait until November.” 

Scott watched him uncertainly, and then looked forward, following the other teen. He sighed. “Yeah.” He muttered. “Neither can I.” 

Stiles was quiet as he waited in line, at the coffee shop. He ordered a cold drink for himself and sat down at a table, looking at Scott. “What do you want to do about this?” 

Scott sat down as well after ordering his own drink, and he sighed thoughtfully, fiddling with a napkin. “Don’t know. What can we do, anyway?” He asked, frowning up at Stiles. “I don’t - I don’t think this has ever happened before. Not in our lifetimes, and not in my mom’s, I know that for sure. But whatever we do, we’re going to be criticized and ostracized and… other things ending in ‘cized’.”

“Exor.” Stiles snorted. “I don’t care what other people say about it. I’m talking about you, personally. What do you want to do about this?” 

Scott stared back at Stiles like he’d never seen him before. Since Friday, all he’d done was complain and rage and sulk, but a part of him, though desperate to tell anyone who moved that he didn’t want the bond, seemed to have already resigned himself to it. He hadn’t expected that question directed at him - he’d never expected _anyone_ to ask him what he wanted, like he had a choice. “I don’t -” He bit his lip and went silent again, leaning back in his chair. “I don’t know.” He said again softly, shaking his head. “There’s multiple things _we_ can do. We could… live with it ‘til graduation and then go our separate ways. We could… keep fighting it, not that it’s done us any good since everyone’s bent on forcing us up each other’s asses. But… what I personally want to do is…” He faltered, looking lost. 

“If it’s not either of those two options, what’s left?” Stiles sipped his drink, frowning down at it. He was really eager for the opportunity to taste the drink and not be disgusted by it. He could eat whatever he wanted, but blood was the only appealing thing for him, as a vampire. 

Scott looked up at Stiles, blinking. He looked uncomfortable, then, and looked down at the table again. “You… wouldn’t like it.”

“Does it involve me becoming a werewolf? Because first of all, that won’t work. Secondly, we were talking about jerking off about ten minutes ago, I think we can handle any topic of conversation.” 

“It doesn’t.” Scott mumbled. “And I don’t think you’d like it because it… it involves… going with it.” He lifted his eyes toward Stiles but kept his face down. “The mating.”

“But you don’t even like me.” Stiles protested. 

“And?” Scott asked, raising his eyebrows. “Not a good example, but there are plenty of movies where people pretend to like each other to get other people to leave them alone.” He shifted in place, looking down. “Or is my mutt face too much for you?”

“So like, fake being soulmates with you, my actual soulmate?” Stiles mulled that over, then answered Scott’s question. “Nothing is wrong with your face. You do kind of look like an overgrown puppy, but it’s whatever. You hate vampires, though.”

Scott didn’t answer right away, still staring at his feet. “My mom’s first husband was a vampire.” He muttered. “She has… scars. On her neck, on her arms, on her legs, on her back. Bite marks, but also… lashes.” He said softly. “Beatings he gave her, because she didn’t want to…” He cleared his throat. “Everyone knows what happens to the women that have a vampire’s child. She didn’t want to die. And she didn’t want to be a vampire. She even tried to convince him to let her adopt, but she… She wasn’t what he wanted her to be, so he tried to force her to be what he wanted. And, well… humans don’t heal the way vampires and werewolves do.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “She ended up in the hospital for a long time, and the guy that came in to cover her case was my dad. He promised to protect her and he did.” He looked up at Stiles. “He protected her right up until he died when I was five.”

“Most of the werewolves I’ve met use the same slurs you do.” Stiles pushed the fruit-flavored drink aside and started nervously cracking his knuckles. “And that’s just the start of the things they’ve done to me. Do you know what happens when you’re stuck outside for six hours, no sunscreen, in the middle of summer? I do. It took the rest of that summer for me to heal. So I’m probably not willing to be alone with you for... ever? I don’t know. But faking this to get people to fuck off? I can do that.”

Scott looked sick to his stomach at Stiles’ revelation, but he could feel the relief that the other boy was willing to go along with things. “You don’t have to be alone with me. Ever, if you don’t want to. At school, we’ll be surrounded by people. And… when we’re at home, we can just, um…” He furrowed his brows, thinking. “Text? Or video chat. About what we’re going to do to keep up appearances. And what we should do if something changes, like, if you meet someone.”

Stiles laughed. “Sure. If I meet someone.” He scoffed. “That’s not going to be an issue.”

“Sure.” Scott repeated, then fidgeted again. “So… uh, your number. Is something I should probably have?”

“Right.” Stiles told Scott his phone number. “You can just text me and I’ll save yours.”

Scott nodded, entering the number into his phone before he immediately texted Stiles with a plain ‘hi’.

Stiles smiled down at his phone, sending a ‘hi’ back to Scott before he sat back in his seat. “If we really want to make this look legitimate, we’re going to need to attend some of the town soulmate socials. I think one or two would be enough.” 

Scott looked nervous as he sat down, too, looking back at Stiles. “You’re right.” He murmured. “I… I want to be prepared for this.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “But… not just the socials. Maybe, um… group outings?” He suggested. “I mean… some of your friends, some of my friends. They don’t have to be vampires or werewolves.”

“All of my friends are vampires.” Stiles said quietly. “The only person I even sort of associate with is Mason, and - wait. I can invite Betty. Her soulmate is human.” 

Scott straightened and nodded. “I could… invite Malia, maybe.” He looked uncertain. “She doesn’t care about werewolves versus vampires, not like the rest of her family does.”

“Okay.” Stiles agreed. “But where would we go? It’s not like Betty and I can spend the day at the beach. Not without massive amounts of sunscreen.” 

Scott furrowed his brows, thinking. “What about the Redwoods?” He suggested. “It’s always worth going there. And there’s enough shade that you wouldn’t… like, immolate.”

“I guess we could.” Stiles murmured. “I’ll see what Betty thinks and let you know.” 

Scott nodded, and then made a bit of a face. “People are going to be, like, expecting pictures, aren’t they?”

“Yeah.” Stiles sighed. “Maybe... maybe we don’t have to do this. Let’s not worry about it. Want to ditch the rest of the day? We could... uh... I don’t know. I don’t want to go back in that building, though.” 

Scott looked over at him and nodded. “Yeah, definitely not.” He rubbed a hand through his hair. “But no, yeah, let’s go. I don’t… I mean, what the hell would we do?”

“I mean, I’d offer to go out for pizza.” Stiles laughed. “But would you... you wouldn’t... I don’t know. I don’t want to drink in front of you and have you like, freak out. I mean, that’s not my problem, but it’s not a fun time.” 

Scott shook his head. “That doesn’t actually bother me.” He admitted. “The Hales regularly have their steaks while they’re still mooing. The steaks mooing, not the Hales.” He drew his thumb over his lower lip. “Actually not bad, really. Fresh, you know?”

“Great, we’ll go hunt wild animals together.” Stiles snorted. “Betty and I can drain the blood, you and Malia can eat, and Veronica can bring her own dinner?” 

“Nah, we’ll share the meat. Mal and I can have ours raw, but we can cook the other half for Veronica.” Scott said it with an utterly straight face, but his lips twitched, giving him away.

Stiles laughed. “You know, I get that we’re not being serious, but it actually sounds like it would be fun.” 

Scott allowed himself to smile at Stiles. “It does.” He agreed. “Like… camping, climbing, hiking, hunting… It could be really fun.”

“Would you want to do that this weekend, then?” Stiles felt a little weird about making a date with his soulmate, since it was all just an effort to make the rest of the world think that they were accepting their fate. It felt almost too easy. He was used to feeling nervous, fighting for the right words and then being too terrified to even attempt to utter them. 

Scott took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, actually.” He replied. “That sounds… it sounds like…” He trailed off. It sounded like something he would definitely want to do with someone he was actually dating. Which, for all intents and purposes, he was doing. He was dating his soulmate. He cleared his throat and straightened. “It sounds like it would be good for us, and for what we’re trying to do.”

“Yeah.” Stiles picked up his phone and sent Betty a text. ‘What do you think of a group camping thing this weekend? You and Veronica, me and Scott, and a few other people?’

‘.... you’re actually going to hang out with him?’ Betty texted back in surprise. ‘I think it could be cool. I mean, as long as we’re not actually going out there to bury someone.’

‘Not on the first trip.’ Stiles snorted and looked up at Scott. “Betty likes the idea.” 

Scott smiled tentatively. “Cool. I’ll get ahold of Malia, then, and ask her.” He stared down at his phone as he quickly typed out, ‘How do you feel about camping this weekend? Leave on Friday, stay til Sunday night… and we’d be hanging with Stiles and his friend Betty, and her girlfriend?’

‘Sure.’ Malia responded succinctly. 

Scott huffed out a laugh and held his phone up as he looked at Stiles. “She’s up for it.”

“Friday night, then. What do you want to do for the rest of today?” Stiles finished his drink, even though he didn’t like the taste of it at all. 

Scott wracked his brain, thinking silently before he looked back up at Stiles. “Video games?”

“Sure. My dad’s home, so that could work, if you’re okay with going over there? He’s the Sheriff.” Stiles stammered. 

“I - yeah.” Scott blinked rapidly. He’d forgotten that, actually. “Yeah, I’m cool with that.” He was half-cool with it. The uncool half was internally panicking that the Sheriff would look at him and suddenly decide that wolf was the _real_ other white meat and that he’d like to try it for dinner.

Stiles looked at Scott for a moment. “Maybe some other time.” He murmured. “Or not? I don’t... I think I might just go home.” 

Taking a deep breath, Scott steeled himself. “No, I’ll - let’s go.” He said firmly. He could get over his fear of the Sheriff. What he and Stiles were planning to do needed to be dealt with immediately, and he couldn’t do that if he couldn’t even spend time with the other boy. “Come on. Your house, let’s go.” He nodded his head toward the door.

Stiles hesitated, then sighed and stood, pocketing his phone and grabbing his backpack. He pulled his hood back on over his head and walked toward the vampire parking lot. “If you’re freaked, just call your mom and whoever else you wanna call, tell them you’ll be at my house.” He muttered, looking over at Scott. 

Scott followed after him silently. “Okay.” He murmured. “It’s not a bad idea.” He tugged out his phone and composed a text to his mother, reassuring her that he was okay and that he was spending the afternoon with Stiles - before he remembered that he was supposed to be in class right then, and that she’d murder him if she found out he was skipping. He quickly saved the text as a draft and put the phone back in his pocket. “Maybe later.”

Stiles nodded, stopping by a Jeep with tinted windows. “My dad doesn’t like the idea of me ditching, but he knows that sometimes, I have to. Harris is always an asshole to me and he’s not the only one. Around the time I started getting the crap knocked out of me at school, we made an agreement that if I need a day off once in awhile, it’s fine. As long as my grades don’t slip too badly. Harris is going to always give me the lowest grade he can, so I’ve been doing extra credit everywhere else to try to even that out.” 

“Sounds fair.” Scott murmured. “Harris is the only teacher I have issues with.” He scowled. “Not entirely my fault. I blame Laura for that. When I joined the pack, Laura made it a point to walk into his class and make it known that if he tried to fail me or anything, she’d turn him into bloody chunks and feed him to the omegas. So now he doesn’t fail me.” He smiled wryly. “He just gives me a D-minus in everything.”

“Fuck.” Stiles blurted, shaking his head. “If it wasn’t illegal...” He smiled crookedly. 

Scott snorted. “Right?” He looked over at the other guy. “Anyway, I was always taught not to let anyone steamroll me, you know? Never to let anyone make me feel bad about myself, and pretty much everything out of Harris’ mouth is meant to make whoever he’s talking to feel bad about themselves. So… I don’t take his shit. I don’t care what he threatens me with. Even if it was expulsion, Talia would probably kick his ass from Beacon Hills to Timbuktu and get me back in.” He grimaced. “After she kicked my ass for getting expelled and probably provoking a teacher.”

“Well, they’re going to probably really be pissed about... my piss.” Stiles sighed. “I’ll tell them you had nothing at all to do with it, to leave you the hell out of it. If I get caught. I don’t know that I will? I mean, nobody likes Harris and if he tries to have me suspended or expelled, I’ll tell everyone the reason for it. He’ll forever be ‘that teacher.’”

Scott looked at him thoughtfully. “You don’t have to. I was there and I encouraged it. And we’re really not the only ones that can’t stand him, I’m sure he managed to piss off fifteen other people today, at least.”

“Okay. Are you following me or coming with me?” Stiles had a feeling he already knew the answer, but he was increasingly eager to get home. 

“Oh - uh.” Scott blinked and looked around. His bike was on the opposite side of the building. “Coming with you.” He stated. He could come back and get the bike later. 

Stiles’ eyebrows raised, but he licked his lips and nodded. “Okay.” He got into the Jeep, turning the radio on and turning the volume down when it blared from the speakers. “Shit. Sorry.” 

Scott let out a low whine, lowering his hands from his ears, where they’d flown up when he’d gotten in the Jeep. “Damn. You really like your music loud.”

“It helps me wake up in the morning.” Stiles murmured. “I’m nocturnal. All vampires are. But we have to go to school, and they don’t have school at night, so we have to deal.” 

“You’d think they’d accommodate you or something.” Scott frowned. “They have college classes at night. It would make more sense.” He snorted. “Asking too much from Beacon Hills, I guess.”

“Yeah. I’m planning on New York City. For college.” Stiles explained. He drove out of the lot and toward his house. The drive wasn’t very far, but too far to walk on bright, sunny days. He parked in the driveway and got out, laughing softly. “Hang on, okay?” Without waiting for a response from Scott, Stiles ran across the lawn and into the house. “Dad?!” 

“Den!” John called back, straightening up from where he’d been stretched out and watching tv. “What’s up, kiddo? Harris being an ass again?”

“Yes, but I brought someone else with me, today.” Stiles explained. “Scott. My soulmate. So... yeah. He’s here.” 

John was silent, staring at his son and blinking in bewilderment. “That’s… nice?” He said carefully. “Is this… What is this? Are you being coerced into doing this?”

“We’re sort of coercing each other.” Stiles frowned. “No, that’s not... we tried to tell them on Friday that it was bullshit, you know? And they dragged us down the hall and made us sit together in every class. So today, it just seemed like it would be easier to, uh, go along with it? But then Harris pissed me off and I really lost my temper, and then Scott was being instructed to take me to the nurse’s office. We left after that. But we’re trying to at least make people think we’re getting along, so that they won’t give us shit about not getting along.” 

John stared at Stiles a little more, trying not to laugh. “Sounds like a solid plan.” He murmured. “Are you preparing yourself for what might happen if you get found out?”

“I don’t see how that could even...” Stiles muttered. He shook his head and walked over to the front door, leaning out. “Scott, you can come in.” 

Scott nodded and moved toward the door, taking a step inside the house. He looked around curiously, and then looked back at Stiles. “So… video games?”

“Yeah.” Stiles frowned at his dad, wondering why the older man had seen fit to make him start worrying about consequences for not fully accepting a soulmate who just didn’t have enough in common with him to make their relationship work. He had never heard of anyone being punished, but that was probably because everyone else seemed so content to go along with it. He shook his head slightly and walked down the hall to his room. “Go ahead and get comfortable. It’s not time for them to eat yet, but I want to go check on my snakes.” 

“You have snakes?” Scott blurted, straightening. “What kind?”

“Two boa constrictors and a ball python. I had two of those too, but Lucille got into a bad situation. So now there’s just Monty, Quill and Bal. But I’ll get another python soon. Do you want to see them?”

“Dude, yeah.” Scott nodded, and was heading toward the doorway before he froze and looked back at Stiles sheepishly. “Um. Should probably let you lead since I’ve never been here before.”

Stiles laughed and walked across the hall, opening the door across from his. “That one is Monty.” He pointed to the python’s cage. “And Bal and Quill are over there.” He gestured. “If you want to pet them, let me know.” 

Scott looked at him, confused. “Okay… Monty I get. I even got Lucille. But… why Bal and Quill?” He asked, bending down to peer into the cage at them.

“They’re boas.” Stiles laughed. “Balboa, like Rocky? And Quill because Feather sounded too girly.” 

Scott stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief, and then snorted out a surprised laugh. “Nice!”

Stiles smiled. “Thanks. They’re harmless, by the way. At least, for me? They’re actually about as cuddly as kittens.” 

Scott chewed on his lower lip for a second. “Do you think they’d react differently to a werewolf than they do to you?” He asked carefully. “I mean… we _are_ pretty different. There’s bound to be some kind of reaction, right?”

“Possibly.” Stiles admitted. “Here, let’s try this.” He removed the lid from Monty’s cage, letting the snake climb up his arm and wrap around his shoulders. He pinched the python’s mouth with his thumb and forefinger, eyeing him. “We’re not going to have a problem, are we? No.” He looked up at Scott. “Come pet him, he can’t hurt you now.” 

Scott still looked a little wary, but he stepped forward and lightly slid his finger down Monty’s nose, looking a little awed. “He’s so cool.” He murmured. “Seriously.”

Stiles smiled proudly. “Yeah, I think so, too. I mean, obviously? But I try to keep one male and one female of each kind, specifically to mate them. Irony.” He snorted. “There are a lot of people who want to pay good money for snake eggs, though. I don’t ask what they do with them, I don’t care.”

Scott smiled a little crookedly. “So long as they pay, right?” He teased. “Like, you’re giving up your grandbabies, there had better be good compensation for it.” He snorted. 

“I guess I didn’t think of it like that.” Stiles grinned. “Grandbabies. You’re weird.” 

Scott shrugged a shoulder. “I’m aware.” He paused. “Pun not intended.”

“That was beautiful, though.” Stiles smiled. “I’m kind of a sucker for puns.” He wondered if that was too forward, if it sounded like flirting. 

Scott grinned a little shyly, looking pleased. “Glad you liked it. I’m not usually too good at them. Mostly, they happen by mistake.”

Stiles turned to put Monty back into his cage, then got the boas out and sat down on the floor with them. “I’m not going to be able to hold both of their mouths closed. They’re not poisonous, but they do bite. I just like to let them have time to play, outside of their cages. If you want to go pick out a game and get it set up, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Otherwise, watch your feet.” 

Scott nodded thoughtfully, staring at Stiles for a moment before he turned and went back to Stiles’ room. He did like snakes, and it wasn’t as though he couldn’t heal, but he wasn’t particularly in the mood to be bitten today.

Stiles didn’t return to his room for another twenty minutes, smiling sheepishly. “I swear they can tell time, they know I’m not normally here at this point in the day.” 

Scott looked vaguely amused. “It’s cool. Spend time with your babies, I can wait.” He teased, grinning. 

Stiles shook his head and sat down on his bed, looking up at Scott. “Actually? My dad got me my first snake after the school decided that kids needed to be taught separately, based on what they used their fangs for. Or whatever their motivation was. So those snakes have sort of been your replacement.” 

Scott blinked, looking startled. “Oh - you… oh.” He said softly. “I didn’t… I didn’t really replace you.” He admitted. “I mean, I had a dog for awhile, but there was a situation…” He shook his head. “Anyway. Roxy didn’t stay with us for long.”

“Is she okay?” Stiles bit his lip. “Or, um... maybe don’t tell me.” 

“No, it’s okay. She’s okay.” Scott smiled a little sadly. “One of our neighbors claimed she was feral because her little boy got bitten. She didn’t mention that her kid was throwing shit at Roxy and yanking her tail. So our story, versus hers… didn’t look like it was going to end well. But, uh - Deaton, the vet, you know. He stepped in, said he’d take care of her. ‘Rehabilitated’ Roxy and gave her a new home.” His smile was a little more genuine. “She’s been running around on a farm somewhere upstate for the last six years. I get to visit her sometimes. She remembers me, she usually bowls me over when she sees me.” He laughed. 

“When you said she was on a farm, I thought you meant ‘on a farm’ and I thought I might have to be the one to give you some bad news.” Stiles blurted. “I’m glad that wasn’t a euphemism.” 

Scott let out another laugh. “Yeah, no, she’s actually there. My mom and I helped pick it out. She has a blast, chasing the chickens.” He shrugged. “I mean, I miss her but I’m glad that she’s somewhere other than here, so she can have fun and not be accused of stupid shit she didn’t do.”

“Still, though. You should get to have some kind of pet.” Stiles protested. 

Scott rubbed the back of his head. “It’s not like I don’t want one, I just don’t want to end up in another situation like that. You know?”

“Oh.” Stiles looked embarrassed. “Yeah. I understand that.” He nodded. “Sorry. I shouldn’t say things without thinking them through a little more.” His stomach rumbled and he glanced down at it. “I’ll be back in a minute.” 

“It’s okay.” Scott told him. “And hey, it’s cool. Don’t worry about it.” He gave Stiles a small smile. 

Stiles went into the kitchen and cut open a bag of blood from the fridge, gulping it down and licking his lips before he threw the bag in the trash and went back into his room. “Okay, so what are we playing?” 

Scott held two games up. “Call of Duty, or Mario Kart.” He paused, looking off to his side. “Or Diablo, which I’ve never played. But it looks interesting?”

“I think you’d like Diablo.” Stiles smiled. “If you don’t, we’ll play Mario Kart. Everybody likes that.” 

“Couldn’t hurt to try it out.” Scott mused, nodding. “Okay.”

*****

“What’s that thing he’s doing with his face?” Theo smirked, nudging Allison the next morning, at school. “It looks like smiling, but that can’t be right.” 

“Fuck you.” Stiles muttered, shaking his head as he opened his locker. 

“I’m just saying, the two of you ditched almost all day yesterday, and now you look happy.” Theo murmured. “So that’s good, right?” 

Allison smiled lightly, propping her chin against Stiles’ shoulder. “You do seem more relaxed than you usually do.” She murmured. “Theo, stop teasing him. Stiles, is everything going well?” She asked him, squeezing his arm gently.

“I don’t know.” Stiles said carefully. “I kind of want to say that it is, but there’s still the problem of him hating everyone like me and me hating everyone like him. I know that’s not something either of us should be doing, but he has his reasons and I have mine. Being alone isn’t something we can do. We actually went to my house yesterday because my dad was there. Which is kind of counterintuitive? Since my dad’s a vampire. But also, the Sheriff. So Scott knew that he wasn’t going to be attacked. And we’re talking about going camping and hiking this weekend with Veronica and Betty, and Malia. I’m not really sure how that’s going to work out, though. I doubt that he and I can share a tent. I guess he’ll share with Malia and I’ll be by myself.” 

“That doesn’t sound all that great. I mean, the hiking and the camping do, but you’re supposed to be comfortable with one another.” Theo sighed. “Do you want me to come with you? I don’t want you feeling like a fifth wheel when Malia should be. I know that sounds rude, I don’t care.” 

Stiles shook his head. “No, I think it might be all right?” He didn’t feel as confident about the weekend as he had five minutes earlier. “Maybe.” 

Allison hummed quietly. “If you don’t want Theo along, I’ll come.” She smiled crookedly. “But I think you’ll be okay. You do seem… a lot more at ease.”

“Stiles.” 

Stiles blinked, turning toward the familiar voice, saying his name in a way that was unfamiliar. “Yeah? Lydia?” 

Lydia smiled. “I heard that you’re going hiking and camping this weekend. I’d like to go with you, if that’s all right? I realize it’s probably just for couples...”

“No, you can totally come with us.” Stiles blurted, dazed. “Yeah.” He smiled at her. “I could text you and let you know where we’re going to meet on Friday?” 

“Thank you.” Lydia handed Stiles a slip of paper with her phone number on it. “I’m looking forward to this.” 

Stiles stared after Lydia as she walked away. “Holy shit.” 

Allison grinned faintly. “Things are looking pretty up, now, aren’t they?”

“Yeah.” Stiles blurted. He grabbed his phone and programmed Lydia’s number into it. 

“It’s like one of those ‘many faces’ memes.” Theo smirked. “Stiles yesterday, Stiles this morning, Stiles now. But I’m going to do the thing a good friend does and completely trash your good mood, okay? Stiles. Why did she pick now to do this?” 

“Fuck off.” Stiles repeated. “I don’t care why. I get to spend the whole weekend with Lydia.” 

Allison furrowed her brows. “But I thought this was for you and your… mate to hang out? You’re going to ignore him for Lydia the whole weekend?”

“No, just... I think he might like Malia? She was the first person he suggested for this whole thing and she’s a werewolf. He’s really anti-vampire. I wasn’t just saying that.” Stiles shrugged. “So at least now there’ll be six people instead of five.” 

Allison studied him for a moment, her brows still drawn together in confusion before she made a face. “Well… Okay, I guess. I mean - you’re still going to be out there with him around, so I guess it counts as spending time together.”

Stiles nodded, smiling crookedly. “Yeah.” 

“What did you do yesterday?” Theo demanded, glancing over at Allison before he looked back at Stiles. 

“We had coffee. Well, he had coffee, I had some gross fruit smoothie thing.” Stiles muttered. “We went to my house, he saw my snakes, we played Diablo. Then he went home. That was it.” 

“You didn’t even try to -” Theo protested. 

“Dude, for the last time? He doesn’t like vampires.” Stiles grimaced. “And I don’t like werewolves. And you know why.” 

Allison’s eyes softened. “We know why.” She agreed, nodding. “Was he at least… not shitty? If he was shitty to you at all, I’m crashing your camping weekend so I can kick his ass.”

“He was nice.” Stiles assured Allison. “I think we’ll be all right for the rest of the year. I told him I’m planning to go to New York for college. I don’t think that’s something he would like. Too noisy. So anyway, it’s just the rest of the school year and then we can both move on with our lives.” 

“Okay.” Allison murmured, and hugged him tightly. She was protective of Stiles - always had been, and she doubted she’d ever stop. “I just - you know I just want you to be happy, right?” She asked. “We both do.”

“Yeah.” Theo agreed. “I’m not saying it the right way, but that’s what I mean.” 

Stiles laughed. “If things get too weird, I’ll call both of you and tell you where we are.” 

Allison grinned at him. “And we'll be there in a heartbeat. So to speak.”

*****

Stiles was slathered in sunscreen, wearing sunglasses, and had his hood pulled up over his head as he waited for everyone else, near the start of the trail that they were going to hike, before they set up their camp at one of the sites along the path. He felt a little sick to his stomach and wasn’t sure if it was that he was nervous or that the smell of the sunscreen was overpowering. 

Scott caught up with Malia in tow, lifting his gaze to Stiles and smiling tentatively at the other boy. “Hey, He greeted, waving his hand. 

Betty looked bemused as she walked toward the start of the path, holding Veronica’s hand. “This is going to be an interesting weekend, I think.” She murmured. 

“Hmm, probably.” Veronica smiled. “I brought the kind of popcorn we can make over a campfire. Just in case.” 

Lydia parked her car and got her hiking backpack out of the backseat, pulling the straps on over her shoulders as she walked toward everyone. “Hi.” 

Scott blinked at her in confusion. “Hi? What are you doing here?” He asked, frowning. 

“Oh. I thought it was all right?” Lydia gave Stiles a confused look of her own, then glanced back at Scott. “I asked Stiles on Tuesday if I could come with all of you and he said it was fine.” 

“Because it is fine.” Stiles interjected. “We should probably get started though, since it’s going to be dark in a few hours and I think it would be a good idea to have the tents set up before sunset. I mean, unless you guys had a different idea? But it makes more sense to me.” 

“I’m good with that.” Lydia smiled softly, then glanced toward Malia and cleared her throat. “If the rest of you are?” 

Scott stared at Stiles for a moment, and he couldn’t understand the wounded feeling he was getting, when there was no reason to be hurt at all. He shifted, and then smiled tentatively at Lydia. “Uh - yeah, it’s - I’m good.” He agreed, nodding.

Malia looked back at Lydia curiously, and then shrugged. “Yeah, I’m fine with that. I want to get moving, actually, I’m starving.”

“Then let’s get going.” Stiles grinned and put his hand on Scott’s shoulder.

Scott smiled back at Stiles helplessly. 

Betty’s eyebrows rose, and she glanced at Veronica in surprise. “Wasn’t expecting that,” she murmured. 

“Neither was I. I think we’ll definitely be needing popcorn.” Veronica whispered. 

Betty laughed quietly. “Agreed.”

Stiles kept glancing at Lydia as the group walked along the trail. He had chosen a moderate one that he was familiar with, which he was grateful for now. He pointed out a few things as they walked, feeling a little awkward. He hadn’t intended to play tour guide, but Lydia seemed to be focused on what he was saying, so he wanted to keep talking. 

Scott wasn’t looking at Stiles as they walked, but he was wholly focused on the other boy, listening intently. He still didn’t understand why Lydia had asked to come along, but he was sure he’d get over it. He hoped. 

Lydia smiled indulgently as the vampire spoke, gesturing at some plants and describing them to her, as though she didn’t already know what they were. She waited until they had stopped at their campsite an hour later, setting her backpack down and rubbing her shoulders as she turned toward Malia. “I didn’t think my mom was going to let me come here. It’s been easier to get permission for things since my dad moved out, though. Did you have to talk your parents into letting you do this?” 

Malia blinked. “My mom’s a deadbeat druggie bitch and my dad kicked her to the curb when I was three.” She replied. “So… I didn’t have to ask her anything. I told my dad I was coming and he said okay and told me not to maim endangered woodlands and woodland creatures.”

“Is he a werewolf too, then?” Lydia looked intrigued. 

Malia nodded. “He was human until he was sixteen, and then he asked Nana to bite him. He had some sort of… bone thing?” She frowned. “I don’t remember what it was called, but it wasn’t getting better, and he asked Nana and then he was a werewolf.” She studied Lydia. “Aunt Talia was born that way, though, most of the family was.”

Stiles watched the girls with a growing sense of dread - and mortification. “Lydia, did you come along on this trip so that you could ask Malia questions about her dad? Because he’s your soulmate?” 

“I never claimed it was for any other reason.” Lydia looked at Stiles. “You thought that I was hoping to get closer to you?” 

“Of course not.” Stiles blurted. “That would be stupid. Excuse me.” He walked away, sending a text to Allison and Theo. ‘Red alert, I’m an idiot. Save me.’ He sent a second text with his coordinates, sighing. 

‘Be there ASAP,’ Allison texted back immediately. 

‘Me too.’ Theo replied a few seconds later.

Scott stared at Stiles for a long moment, and then looked away, feeling disappointed. His jaw ticked a little and then he folded his arms over his chest, keeping the mark on his wrist against his chest. 

Malia looked at Lydia thoughtfully. “I’m not calling you Mom.”

“I don’t want you to.” Lydia shook her head, smiling. 

Veronica looked over at Betty. “Popcorn?” 

Betty nodded, looking back at her girlfriend. “With, like, triple butter.”

Stiles sat down on a large boulder, his legs stretched out in front of him. He was trying to stay calm, but all he wanted to do was call his dad and plead to move to Minnesota. 

Scott shuffled over to him and sat down a smaller rock. “You okay?” He asked softly, avoiding the other boy’s eyes. “I’m - guessing that she’s the real reason you, uh… got excited about coming out here.”

“Uh, maybe a little?” Stiles admitted. “I really did want to come out here before she sort of asked if she could invite herself along. I thought that she was finally talking to me because she had finally noticed that I exist. That’s my fault. I’m not always all that smart.” He shrugged. 

“You’re pretty smart.” Scott corrected. “You just… must have a blind spot where she’s concerned. I get it. For awhile when we were all kids, I kind of… had a crush on Allison.” He admitted. “Didn’t last, I mean, once I figured out that she could probably destroy me with a glare and that I’d like to, you know… not be destroyed.”

Stiles laughed. “And because she’s a vampire.” He murmured. “That probably had something to do with it.” 

Scott paused, frowning as he thought, and then looked a little surprised. “Actually… no. That had nothing to do with it.” He looked at Stiles. “I know you probably won’t believe me, but it’s true.” He frowned deeper. “I was a kid. It… the vampire thing didn’t matter to me then.”

“I’m confused.” Stiles frowned back at Scott. “I thought you said that your mom’s first husband was a vampire. So then, why do you hate them?” 

Scott looked a little dazed at his revelation. “Because of _him_. Because of my mom and the way she reacted to vampires for the longest time, but now I’m thinking… it wasn’t vampires she was reacting to. It was just…” He looked at Stiles helplessly. “Oh, hell. I think I’m, like… a bigot. Or something.” He sighed. “I guess I’m definitely a dick.”

“Join the club.” Stiles muttered. “Are you okay? Do you need a minute? I would offer you a snack, but you don’t want what I packed for myself.” 

Scott huffed out a laugh. “No, you’re probably right, I won’t.” He sighed. “Self-revelation blows. I’m fine. Just… kind of having thoughts about who I thought I was. It’s not pretty.”

“You’re still a better person than I am.” Stiles snorted. “And we’re both slightly better than Lydia. She knew damn well what she was doing when she asked me if she could come with us.” 

Scott snorted. “Yeah.” He shook his head. “It’s still weird that she’s mated to Malia’s dad. Peter’s not exactly… um, not a dick. But… he does dote on Malia, so maybe he won’t be too bad.” He went quiet, gazing at Stiles for a moment. “I’m sorry about that. That she doesn’t… I mean.” He sighed. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah. Uh, thanks?” Stiles laughed softly, making a face. “Thanking you for noticing she’s never liked me. I, um, I called for reinforcements. Allison and Theo. I think they thought something was happening with Lydia, too. Well, Allison. Shit, Theo tried to warn me.” He looked over at Scott. “This soulmate thing is just... you can do better than being stuck with me. You said it yourself on Monday, my plans fall apart. Always. I feel like we need a retest. Can they even do that?”

“Probably not.” Scott said softly. He looked down. “So… you don’t want to do this, then? Because - I mean, if you’d rather peace out, then… I mean, I can’t stop you, I just kind of thought that we were… getting along. A little.”

“We are.” Stiles agreed. “But until two minutes ago, you had yourself convinced that you hated anyone like me. I just don’t see this working out. You can’t even deal with me feeding myself.”

“That’s not true.” Scott protested. “Go ahead and eat in front of me. It’s not gonna bother me.”

“What exactly is this, anyway?” Stiles looked at Scott, feeling even more vulnerable than he had a few minutes earlier, after realizing Lydia had deliberately used him. “What do you want?” 

Scott fell silent for a moment, staring back at Stiles. “I don’t want anything.” He mumbled after a moment. “I was just trying to not be shitty to you. You aren’t… you just don’t deserve people using you, okay? And Lydia using you was shitty.”

“Yeah.” Stiles murmured. “We should, uh, get the tents set up.” He rubbed at his eyes, then grimaced. “Fuck, I need my sunscreen. I just wiped it off.” 

“I’ll get it.” Scott murmured, standing up and wandering over to Stiles’ things. He returned with the bottle of sunscreen and sat back down, handing it over to Stiles. 

“Thanks.” Stiles squirted some of the lotion into his hands and started carefully applying it under his eyes. He looked at Scott when he finished. “So I know that you don’t want me to be treated like crap, but what do you want?” 

Scott twisted his hands together, furrowing his brows. “To get to know you.” He said softly. “I mean… I know that… this… isn’t real. But I really - I’d like to know you. I would. And not just as ‘oh, he’s a vampire.’”

“I want to know you, too.” Stiles said quietly. “At least as a friend. We were friends before.” 

Scott sniffed quietly, nodding. “Yeah.” He murmured. “We were. And I want to be again.”

“Can I hug you?” Stiles held his arms out. “I mean, I’m probably colder than you’re used to, but still.” 

Scott leaned forward without hesitation, hugging Stiles tightly and resting his chin on the other boy’s shoulder. “I don’t care what temperature you are.” He laughed softly. 

Stiles had been agonizing over whether or not to tell Scott that for one day, he would be human. He had decided not to, since he thought the werewolf might be a little too ecstatic at Stiles’ twenty-four hours of having a heartbeat. Now, he reaffirmed his decision, but for a different reason. He didn’t want Scott to know, he wanted to surprise him. 

Scott exhaled softly and then finally let go of Stiles, pulling back. He kept his hand on Stiles’ shoulder, though, like he was trying to reaffirm that the other boy was there.

*****

Stiles woke up just before dawn on Sunday morning. Later in the day, they would have to get back to Beacon Hills and their lives, but he wasn’t in a hurry. He started liberally applying sunscreen on his face and arms, thinking about the day ahead. 

Allison poked her head in to look at him, and then crawled inside the tent to plop down beside him. She reached for the bottle to help him, wiping stray dollops of the sunscreen on her own skin when they fell. “So… how are you feeling about today?” She asked him softly. She and Theo had made it to the camping grounds not long after most of the others had gone to sleep on the first night, and rather than set up their own tent at such a late hour, they’d crawled into Stiles’. She’d woken up in her own tent several minutes ago thanks to the obnoxiously loud chirping of a bird that had been up entirely too early.

“Today’s not the problem.” Stiles shrugged one shoulder. “Today’s fine, we’ll still all hang out here until we absolutely have to get home. Tomorrow, though? We’re back to high school bullshit. Lydia... I liked her last week, I hated her two days ago. I don’t even know what to think of her now.” 

Allison rubbed her hand over his back, sighing. “I’m sorry that she did that to you.” She told him softly. “I hate that she did. I understand it, but… you’re my best friend, and that… that was just shitty.” She sighed. “It doesn’t have to be back to high school bullshit, though. I mean, things are going okay with Scott now, aren’t they? That doesn’t have to change.”

“I want to believe that.” Stiles snorted. “But come on, you know? I also believed last Tuesday that Lydia was coming here to spend time with me.” 

Allison smiled faintly, tilting her head. “Lydia is also fifty times more cunning than Scott could ever be. I love her, but I know that she didn’t have any qualms about using how you felt about her to get what she needed.” She sighed and dropped her head against his shoulder. “Peter Hale is her mate, and you and Scott invited his daughter along on a camping trip. She saw the opportunity and grabbed it. I hate that she used you to do it. But Scott isn’t Lydia. He can lie, he can front, but he does it very badly. He’s also clueless. So… if he hurts you, there’s a chance that you’d have to explain to him why he did it and why he’d better not do it again.” She looked at him. “But I don’t think that he’d hurt you on purpose. And I’ve been watching the two of you interact - so have Betty and Ronnie and Theo and Malia. I don’t think you can fake that kind of… genuineness.”

“Yeah, we agreed to be friends again, like when we were five.” Stiles smiled. “So I think yeah, we’ll be okay.” 

Allison beamed at him. “Good. I’m glad.” She hugged his arm. “And if you’re not, you’ve got plenty of people that’ll take your side and hurt him for you.”

Stiles grinned. “Can I record it, if that happens?” 

“Well, duh.” Allison snorted. She slathered on the last of the sunscreen, and then hauled herself to her feet before reaching for Stiles’ hand and tugging him up, too. “Come on. Breakfast. We’re up earlier than everyone else, we deserve to eat before they do.”

Stiles nodded, following Allison out of the tent. “Are we going to have regular food or our food?” He stretched his arms over his head. “I’m good, either way.”

Allison’s stomach growled, and she put a hand over her stomach. “I’m thinking both, honestly. If there was a place to make waffles here, I’d be demanding that with our special syrup. Maybe toast and eggs with cheese? That’s easy to make, right?”

“Sure, if we have eggs.” Stiles laughed. “Or we could look for bird eggs?” 

Allison grinned. “Shouldn’t be too hard to find. We’re in a forest, after all. And we can climb.”

Stiles grinned back at her. “You just want to punish that bird for waking us both up.” 

“I totally do.” Allison blurted, sighing. “I could have gladly slept for at least another two hours. Now I’m going to have bird for breakfast.”

Stiles laughed. “Or you could go back to sleep.” He suggested.

“No,” Allison sighed, looking a little sulky. “Too awake now.” She looped her arm through his, heading toward a trail and listening for chirping. 

“So, what do you really think of Scott?” Stiles asked a moment later, tilting his head back to peer up at one of the tree branches. “Like, if I was interested in him for more than friendship?” 

Allison looked up as well, surveying the trees. “Would you be?” She asked him. “Or is this just a hypothetical thing? I don’t dislike Scott, I just… he’s odd. you know? More so than most werewolves are. I suppose he’s nice enough. He’s always been polite to me, so that’s a good thing. Even shows that he’d willing to help other races out there, not just you.”

“He’s hot.” Stiles blurted, laughing. “I’d have been all over him on day one if it wasn’t for the fact that I thought - and well, he thought, too - that we hated each other for what felt like good reasons.” 

Allison squinted. “They weren’t good reasons?” She asked, frowning. “So he doesn’t hate vampires, then?”

“No, he realized he was being a bigot on Friday. But I think... I’ve been guilty, too. I wouldn’t even let Mason sit with us at the first assembly because he’s Liam’s best friend. That makes me just as bad.” Stiles murmured. 

Allison hummed. “I always thought your reasons for keeping yourself away from werewolves were fair and justified. You had your reasons and no one blamed you for them. But if you two are willing to let bygones be bygones, then… I can go along with that.”

“Great, because this is what I want.” Stiles smiled. “I mean, if he wants me. I’m probably not going to even think about asking him anytime soon. I just... I’m not good at that.” 

“You might be!” Allison laughed. “You’ve just never been given the chance before. And if you’re not sure about asking him, then… maybe it’s better to wait for him to make the first move?” She looked over at him. “He might actually do it. He seems like, you know, that kinda guy.”

Stiles looked wistful. “I think it would be kind of amazing if he did.” 

Allison smiled softly, resting her head against his. “I think it’s really likely to happen. I couldn’t say when, but… if he let go of his however-long hatred of vampires because he wanted to be friends with you, I’d say it’s really likely.”

“Don’t get my hopes up.” Stiles teased, smiling. “I don’t need that right now, Ally.” 

“You need a little hope.” Allison countered gently. She smiled up at him. “It couldn’t hurt, right?”

“Sure, until he breaks me.” Stiles muttered. “I didn’t just become an optimist overnight, you know? I’m still a cynical asshole.” 

“Mm, yeah, I know. I’ve been trying to break you of that for the last eight years.” Allison’s lips tilted up. “To no avail.”

“And the next eight years are just going to be more of the same.” Stiles laughed. “Have you found your soulmate yet? Did you get a name?” 

Allison shook her head. “No name, no soulmate.” She peered up at him and shrugged. “I mean… could be worse, right? Maybe they just… haven’t gotten their mark yet?”

“That’s true. Some people get to wait. Some don’t have a mark. I used to envy them. No pressure. Now, I finally get it. I just hope he does.” Stiles picked up a rock and threw it at the tree, hearing an indignant squawk before the bird fell to the ground. 

“Nice.” Allison nodded in approval, walking toward the little feathered bastard and wrapping her slim fingers around its neck, snapping it quickly. “And he gets it. He has to. If he doesn’t…” She frowned and walked back over to Stiles. “If he doesn’t, he really is clueless.”

*****

Stiles opened his locker a few weeks later, a grin on his face. It was Halloween and he was hours away from his day of humanity. 

Scott peered up at Stiles from across the hall, his eyes locked on the other boy. He wasn’t sure why Stiles seemed so pleased, but Scott admitted to himself that he really liked seeing a smile on Stiles’ face. He chewed on his lower lip, dithering back and forth a little before he made his way over to Stiles’ side, smiling crookedly. “Hey. You look happy.”

“Yeah!” Stiles laughed. “My favorite two days are today and tomorrow.”

Scott looked amused. “Halloween’s your favorite day? How come? I mean, candy, yeah. Scaring the shit out of people, definitely.” He paused. “I feel like the answer is so obvious now that I answered myself.”

“Pranks and costumes.” Stiles agreed, nodding. “Candy is good, as long as it doesn’t stick to my fangs.”

“So stuff like… Jolly Ranchers and stuff?” Scott asked, squinting. “Still don’t understand why the hell they call them that. But at least they’re good.” He looked embarrassed a second later. “Sorry. Uh, but yeah, no. I love Halloween, too, dude.”

“It was started in Colorado and it was supposed to sound hospitable.” Stiles murmured. “Or at least, that’s what I read last night. I was on a wiki spiral.”

Scott grinned slowly. “You read up on the history of Jolly Ranchers?” He asked, gazing at the other boy fondly.

“And Hershey, and a few others.” Stiles smiled. “I’m nocturnal. The rest of the world isn’t. The internet never sleeps.”

“That’s for sure.” Scott laughed, smiling at him. He couldn’t seem to keep his lips from doing anything but, and he was aware suddenly that he probably looked like an idiot. 

“So, what’s your favorite holiday?” Stiles put a hand on Scott’s shoulder, using the other hand to close his locker. 

“Besides Halloween?” Scott murmured, unintentionally pressing into Stiles’ touch. “Uh… Christmas, honestly. Probably Thanksgiving right after that.”

“Yeah? What do you want for Christmas?” Stiles glanced at Scott. 

Scott blinked at him. “Oh, I have no idea.” He blurted, letting out a soft laugh. “I’m easy. I could get a plateful of cookies and I’ll inhale them and love ‘em like I would any other gift.” He squinted at Stiles curiously. “What about you?”

“I’d say I’m the same, but that’s a lie. I can be kind of picky, but not?” Stiles mused. “I like any gift, but specifically-themed. I could get a toaster and be happy, if it’s like... Darth Vader? But don’t get me that. I have one already.”

Scott’s mind was racing, gradually moving into panic mode as he tried to think of what he could possibly get Stiles for Christmas, as well as trying to figure out how they’d gotten to that stage of their fledgling friendship so fast. “Okay, I won’t.” He laughed, looking at Stiles with wide eyes. 

“Okay.” Stiles murmured, unable to resist leaning against Scott. “How about if we set a spending limit? Twenty dollars?”

Scott took a deep breath. “That - that sounds good.” He said softly. “I know I can’t go overboard if I can only spend twenty.” He grinned.t

“Maybe I want you to go overboard, though.” Stiles teased, taking his seat and waiting for Scott to sit beside him. 

Scott lowered himself into his own seat, staring at Stiles intently. “I could do that.” He blurted. “If you want me to.”

“Maybe we up the limit to fifty?” Stiles looked hesitant. “Is that too much?”

Scott chewed on his lower lip. “I don’t - think it is.” He said softly. “I think… I mean… it’s a limit. No one’s saying we have to spend fifty, we just can’t… go over fifty. And, really, you can’t find a really decent present for twenty bucks unless you’re looking at, like, dvds and stuff.”

“Okay, then fifty.” Stiles’ mind started to wander as he thought about what to get Scott. He glanced at his soulmate, squirming a little as he thought about what they could do during winter break.

Scott glanced over at him and smiled nervously, ducking his head. “So… um, I wouldn’t say no to, like… Warcraft or Game of Thrones stuff. Just FYI.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Stiles grinned. “What about tonight, though?”

“Tonight?” Scott asked, licking his lips. “Um… I’m up for whatever. Anything you wanna do, dude.”

“You shouldn’t say that to me.” Stiles grinned. “I might take you seriously.”

Scott grinned back. “How seriously are we talking?”

“Biting?” Stiles remarked. “Watching movies? Egging houses?”

Scott drew a deep breath, staring at Stiles. “All of the above?”

Stiles looked startled. “Sure!” He blurted. “Yes.”

Scott smiled slowly. “Okay.” He breathed out. “Cool. Then… um… maybe we meet up around five? Or… we could go to my house?”

“Right after school?” Stiles asked quietly, eyeing the teacher at the front of the room. 

Scott followed his gaze, and then leaned a little closer to whisper, “Perfect.”

Stiles knew that soulmates were allowed certain privileges, so he didn’t hesitate more than a second before he turned his head to kiss Scott. 

Scott inhaled sharply, his eyes falling shut automatically as he moved to kiss Stiles back.

“Finally.” Lydia muttered, shaking her head as she looked away from the vampire and the werewolf. 

Cora watched them both, scrunching her nose up and then shrugging. “Whatever.” She muttered, shaking her head.

Scott grinned faintly against Stiles’ mouth as more reactions reached his ears from the rest of the class. He didn’t care.

*****

Stiles kissed Scott again a few hours later, on the werewolf’s front porch. He felt incredibly lucky that they were together. 

Scott settled his hands on Stiles’ hips and kissed him back softly before pulling back to nuzzle the bridge of his nose against Stiles’ cheek. “Wasn’t expecting this to really happen,” he said softly. “Figured it was just… like, a flight of fancy or something. My dreams running wild.”

“You could’ve kissed me weeks ago.” Stiles admitted. “I wanted you to.”.” 

“Then I feel doubly stupid for not doing it then.” Scott murmured. “We could’ve been together earlier.” He froze, looking at Stiles uncertainly. “We… are together, right? I can say that now?”

“Yes.” Stiles grinned, leaning in to kiss Scott again. “Tell everybody.” 

Scott laughed, kissing him back. “I’m on it.” He promised. 

“We should get inside. Sunset is actually worse for me than you’d think.” Stiles explained. “I don’t want to get really burned, chapped lips.” 

“God forbid,” Scott blurted, shaking his head. “I don’t want that, either.” He reached for the door, yanking at it. “Open up, dammit, you stupid thing.” He paused, and then looked sideways at Stiles before he sheepishly turned the handle and pushed the door in.

Stiles laughed. “Does that happen often?” 

“When I’m excited? Definitely.” Scott flushed, but twined his fingers with Stiles’. “Come on.” He murmured. “Let’s go inside.”

Stiles smiled and followed Scott into the house. Over the past few weeks, he had been in the McCall home a few times, but he always felt a little out of place. 

“Mom’s not home.” Scott said softly, looking back at Stiles a little shyly. “She… uh, she’s not supposed to be back until three in the morning, I think.”

“Okay.” Stiles murmured. “Do you want to watch a movie or just... go to your room?” 

Scott tilted his head. “We could… start off watching a movie and see where things go from there?”

“Okay.” Stiles said again. “Pick out something.” He laughed and sat down on the couch, stretching his legs out in front of him. 

Scott sat down beside him and reached for the remote, chewing his lower lip thoughtfully as he sought out a channel. He leaned back against Stiles when he found one, and grinned slyly to himself, his lips twitching a little. “How about something in a galaxy far, far away?” He teased.

“I’ll never say no to Star Wars.” Stiles paused. “Unless it’s that Christmas special, that’s just bad.” 

Scott looked back at Stiles over his shoulder curiously. “How bad?”

“There aren’t enough swear words for it.” Stiles said dryly. 

“Oh, damn,” Scott snorted. “Okay, I’ll never ask about it.” He hesitated. “What about the other ones, the ones that came out later? Are they bad, too?”

“Yes, but not as bad.” Stiles reached for Scott, pulling him close. “We don’t have to watch them.” 

Scott smiled and curled into Stiles’ side, settling against him and relaxing happily. “Okay.” He said softly. He lifted his chin for a kiss.

*****

A few hours later, Stiles was wide awake in Scott’s bed, silent and listening to his lover breathing. He didn’t feel a need to say anything and disrupt the peaceful quiet before he would change. 

Scott shifted with a soft, sleepy sigh, turning his head to settle against Stiles’ chest. He was silent as he blinked his eyes open, waking up quietly. Eventually, he tilted his head up to peer at Stiles, and pressed a kiss to his lover’s chin. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Stiles wrapped his arm around Scott, snuggling against him as he watched the alarm clock go from eleven fifty-nine to midnight. His heart started thudding in his chest, and he smiled. 

Scott stiffened a little, blinking again in surprise before he lifted his head again to stare at his boyfriend, wide-eyed. “Stiles…” He breathed out, his eyes darting down to Stiles’ chest. “What…”

“Every year, the day after Halloween, I’m human. All day. And only for one day.” Stiles explained. “So for twenty-three hours and fifty-nine minutes, I can breathe and actually taste food, and be warm.” 

Scott shook a little, reaching his hand up to touch Stiles’ chest. “That’s amazing.” He said softly. “That’s… does it make you upset when it ends?” He asked curiously.

“Not really?” Stiles mused. “I know what I am. What I’ve pretty much always been. It was scary, actually, when I was about three or four. But I usually take the day off from school if it’s a school day, try not to eat too much because it’s caused me problems in the past, and sit outside. All day.” 

“You don’t eat anything all day?” Scott asked. “What - I probably shouldn’t ask what sort of problems. Okay. So…” He studied his boyfriend, and then smiled. “What do you want to do today, then?”

“Oh, I eat.” Stiles explained. “But anything other than blood just tastes weird.” He thought for a moment, trying to decide on plans for the day. “I want waffles and chocolate, and a peanut butter sandwich. And I want to stay in bed with you for as long as possible, before that. And I want to go for a walk.” 

Scott laughed. “Okay. In that case, let’s, uh. Go back to sleep.” His eyebrow quirked. “Or do something else, and then go back to sleep?” He teased.

“I like the idea of something else.” Stiles lifted his head to kiss Scott. 

“Me, too.” Scott murmured and kissed Stiles back eagerly, sliding his arm around the other man’s waist. He shifted again and slid one leg around Stiles’ hip.

Stiles rested his hand on Scott’s thigh, smiling as he kissed his boyfriend’s neck. “So weird that we hated each other like, a month ago.” He muttered. 

“Dumb.” Scott murmured, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. “Stupid. We hated each other for no damn reason.” He let his other leg fall open, pressing up against Stiles.

Stiles’ hand wrapped around Scott’s erection and he grinned with blunt, human teeth. “This is much better.” 

“So much better.” Scott whined softly, hitching his hips into Stiles’ grip and thrusting. “Oh, god.” He buried his face in Stiles’ neck, licking and nibbling hungrily.

Stiles groaned. “This is the first time I ever did anything like this. I mean, obviously.” He rolled his eyes at himself. “But as a human. It’s so different. Feels even more amazing.” 

Scott huffed a soft laugh, his hand slipping down to grip Stiles’ erection and stroking steadily. “I get to be your first?” He asked, grinning widely.

“Yeah.” Stiles blinked. “Wait, you’re my first, anyway. Am I... not your first?” 

“You absolutely are.” Scott looked excited. “We’re each other’s first. Firsts?” He blinked at Stiles. “You’re mine.”

“You’re mine, too.” Stiles grinned, sighing as he kissed Scott’s shoulder. 

Scott felt his eyes flutter shut, and he grinned stupidly, his hand moving again as he cocked his head to catch Stiles’ mouth once more.

Stiles had a feeling that he and Scott would be together for the rest of their lives. He wasn’t sure why he had been so insistent that it was never going to happen. 

Scott lifted his head to peer up at Stiles, his eyes soft. He never should’ve ignored his gut instinct, not when it came to Stiles. Now his instinct said that he and Stiles would be together forever, and he believed it. He really did.


End file.
